Ch. 6: Gathering Data

Severus sipped from his blood red ceramic cup of plain black tea, making sure to be in plain sight of the front windows of the small tea shop in magical Mumbai. Though he appeared bored, all senses remained on alert. The red cup was an old code, but it meant that he was seeking information, and willing to pay for it.

While the magical world didn't have the small electronic gadgets that Q so loved to create and send off with his agents, it did have another precious commodity in its close-knit communities, some of which had purposefully cultivated their skills in eavesdropping and disillusionment. In Mumbai, Severus hoped a member of the Serpentine clan would see the red cup, and stop by to see what he was looking for. With luck, the clan already had the information he sought; without it, he'd have to wait a few days for their own network to seek it out.

He signaled to the server, who brought him another pot of tea and a plate of ginger biscuits before heading back to his place behind the small counter. Severus picked up a biscuit to see two words: Butterfly House.

Ah. Too many people around here today, then, he thought. Severus finished his tea, left a few coins on the table, and stepped out, heading down the street to browse a few stalls, meandering his way to the brothel on the corner known as the Butterfly House. He stepped through the front door and greeted the matron calmly.

"Ah, Master Snape," she smiled coyly. "I have your room ready for you."

"Lovely," Severus replied. "Terms?"

"Have been already negotiated and paid," she replied. "I thank you for asking. Please follow me."

Severus strolled behind her, observing everything about the tastefully decorated space, including the lovely young men and women in various states of dress that they passed. He followed along a corridor, up two flights of stairs, and down a shorter corridor to a plain door. The matron knocked three times, then opened the door, allowing Severus to enter the space, wand loose in its holster, to see a face he'd not expected to see again.

"Miss Patil," he exclaimed softly. "What brings you here?"

"Professor," Parvati acknowledged. "You were looking for information. It was decided I should be the one to talk with you at this time."

Severus sat slowly. "I was unaware you were a member of the Serpentine."

"None know who we are unless we wish it," she said softly. "My family has been associated with the Serpentine for generations."

Severus gave a quick nod, thrown a bit. "I see."

"What information do you seek, professor?" Parvati asked.

He cleared his throat. "I'm looking for any information that might be found about potential magical involvement in muggle manufacturing companies."

Parvati raised an eyebrow. "Do you know which companies?"

"I know of three, connected by one, Zanetech."

"Ah," Parvati said, and sat back, thinking. "Forgive me, but I was not expected that question of you."

Severus raised an eyebrow of his own. "What were you expecting, then?"

"Your allegiances have been suspicious for some time," Parvati said quietly. "I thought perhaps you'd want to know where to find Harry Potter."

"Do many come to the Serpentine looking for that information?" Severus asked, giving away nothing.

Parvati smiled wryly. "Yes, believe it or not. And our ears are to the ground, but we know very little about Harry these days. It's as if he's dropped off the planet, or into the muggle world completely."

Severus thought for a second. "I can confirm that Harry is alive and well, and I may be able to provide better information, in exchange for the information I'm looking for."

"And how can you do that?" Parvati asked.

"I work with him," he said bluntly. "And we're looking into magical involvement in muggle manufacturing."

"I see," Parvati said. "Forgive me, but I have a difficult time believing you and Harry are working together. The animosity between the two of you is legendary."

"And settled," Severus said, "though I don't expect you to believe me without proof. Which I don't have just now, unless you know how to use a mobile."

Parvati laughed. "Of course I do. And we do have some information about the very few magicals who work in our local muggle manufacturing facilities. Information about Harry, though. That's hard to come by."

Severus spoke a quiet "Tempus." 7:30 a.m. local time. He'd been sipping tea for an hour before he'd gotten the note to come here, and that put Q and Bond at 12:30 p.m. He hoped Q had had a nap. "I'll just get my phone out of my pocket," he said quietly, and at Parvati's nod, he took it out, tapped the screen, and placed the call to Q's tablet.

"Sit rep," Q said raspily as he answered the call, breathing hard.

"Q, you'd better not be playing on the job," Severus said admonishingly.

"My mate and I are in the same room, in private, and are waiting for data," Q said, catching his breath. "Nothing better to do."

"So Harry's become a lay-a-bout, then?" Parvati asked loudly, hoping to catch him off guard.

"Who is that?" Q said briskly and sharply.

"I'm passing the phone, then I'll explain," Severus said.

"Better be good," Q said.

"You asked me to the Yule Ball as a last resort, and I got my sister to go with Ron just because he looked pathetic," Parvati said into the phone.

"Parvati?" Quiet rustling was heard. "What? What is Severus doing with you?"

"Seeking information," Parvati explained. "And I wanted this in exchange."

"A private phone call with your first date?"

"Simply the knowledge that you are indeed alive and well. Somewhere. That information carries a price tag, and I can now confirm it," Parvati said gleefully. "And therefore, I have information about the manufacturing plants you wanted."

"Is that the time?" Q muttered, muffled. "Crap." He cleared his throat. "My partner and I have an appointment at one involved facility in under half an hour, so we need to wrap this up, Parv. Is this enough payment?"

Parvati grinned. "I'd love a photo, but this will do. I suspect you're not dressed for a photo."

"Give me a sec, but no, I don't want photos out, anyway. I'm undercover at the mo," he explained tightly, and she could hear another voice rumbling behind Q as he and his partner dressed.

"Got it," Parvati said. "We'll keep our ears open for you here in Mumbai, and pass information to Severus."

"Do I want to know who 'we' are?" Q asked.

Severus took the phone back. "Just a magical intelligence network I tapped here, Q. Not to worry."

"Fair enough, Severus. I trust you. And we'd better be going on mission ourselves."

"Acknowledged," Severus said, and cut the connection. He looked up at Parvati. "Enough?"

"Yes." Parvati pulled her own phone out of her pocket. "Give me a mo, and I'll have names for you."

Severus sat back, pleased.

IMBM

"First date, Q?" James asked, smirking a bit.

"I was 14 and she was pretty. Give me a break. Wasn't who I really wanted, anyway, but she became a loyal friend, in the end. Fought at Hogwarts with me. Wondered what happened to her," Q said absently, restoring their careful corporate personnas with a few flicks of his wand. "There."

"Let's be off, then," James said.

"You lead, dear, and I'll back you up," Q smirked back at him.

IMBM

"I don't recognize any of these names," Severus said thoughtfully.

"No, you wouldn't," Parvati said. "They're all born of non-magical parents. There's been a quiet movement building in the last ten years or so among some of these new magicals to use their power to make changes in the non-magical world."

"Do they have a leader?" Severus asked, scrolling through the data and sending it with a quick keystroke to Q's secured tablet.

"We haven't been able to get a name for the leader, but there are a few possibilities," Parvati said. "It looks as though it's a half dozen people, like a council, deciding how to make things change, and others are following along."

"This is deeply unethical," Severus noted.

"Rumor has it that they're tired of not fitting into the magical world, and see no reason why they shouldn't use their own magic to make the non-magical world better for themselves." Parvati shrugged. "It's reactionary, I suspect, to the whole Voldemort thing."

Severus shook his head. "If ever I imagined your future, I certainly didn't imagine you as an information broker."

"Please, professor," Parvati said, rolling her eyes. "I was the gossip of Gryffindor. And you didn't see this coming?"

"Well, it's just a bit more dangerous than I thought …." Severus trailed off, then rolled his own eyes. "Answered my own question. Gryffindor."

"To the core, professor. One trained by snakes."

IMBM

As Severus made his way back to the hotel set up by MI6, he laid out his plan of attack for the evening.

He knew where the pharmaceuticals company was located. He would apparate to the gate, make his way inside, find the offices, clone the server, and disapparate back to his hotel room, none the wiser.

And if he ran into a few wards, he'd break them.

Meanwhile, he'd so some shopping. Then catch a nap.

IMBM

"Ready for this, Evan?" James asked casually as they strolled into the outer offices of PresCo.

"Yes, dear," Evan said, smiling brightly. "I so rarely get to go out and play at sales with you!"

They'd refined Q's cover a bit, making him a pretty-but-not-too-bright partner, there because he was primarily James' boy-toy. "Just remember it's not play here, Evan," James admonished him, taking the role of the dominating partner.

"Yes, dear," Q said demurely, even as he batted his eyelashes at his partner. James stifled a laugh as they introduced themselves to receptionist, who welcomed them and buzzed the president's office. At the go-ahead from Dr. Prescott's admin, the pair were escorted by security into the bowels of the company, winding their way through a maze of hallways that finally led to a luxurious office suite.

Outwardly, Q smiled vacantly at their welcome by the admin, an attractive, middle-aged brunette woman named Claire. Inwardly, he acknowledged that the maze of hallways they'd just traversed through had more flash than substance. Q doubted very much that the facility was physically as large as it appeared to be, and that fact through up all sorts of red flags.

James moved forward with handshake and a bit of a flirt for Claire. "It's lovely to meet you," he said. "I'm James, and this is my partner, Evan."

"Welcome," Claire said, smiling. "I hear you've got a plan to help us increase our sales?"

"We do," James confirmed. "I look forward to sharing it with Dr. Prescott."

"He's asked me to find you something to drink before I bring you in. Tea?"

"That would be so great," Q gushed. "I was afraid you all would only have beer here!"

Claire laughed. "We're not all about our beer, I'd have to say." She stepped over to and through a door to a small kitchenette. "Earl Grey?"

"Please," Q said brightly.

"Same for you, James?" Claire called out.

"Certainly," he replied, looking down at his partner, who was looking at the wall next to the kitchenette door as if he could see through it.

James didn't flinch as he realized Q probably was looking through it, especially when Q caught his wrist and tapped out a quick "no" in Morse. James raised his other hand to squeeze Q's gently, then dropped them both as Claire came out with their cups. "Here you are, gentlemen. Dr. Prescott will only be a few more moments."

James realized that Claire had added something to the tea, and that she and the good doctor wanted them to drink a good portion before they went into the office. Poison?

The men took seats next to each other on the loveseat against the wall next to the main office door, and pretended to sip their tea while Q surreptitiously switched the liquid with the tea in his locked travel thermos, located in his briefcase. James watched as the liquid in his cup changed color slightly, then watched his partner relax and take a deep sip. "That is the best Earl Grey I've ever had!" he gushed again.

James hid a smile. The best Earl Grey? The tin James gave him every week. He took a deep sip himself, mentally counting off the seconds as they waited to be shown in to see the doctor.

IMBM

Alec worked his way through the dossiers provided by Felix in the privacy of his hotel room, getting ready to don his best burglar attire to head out and get the server data.

He had an appointment of his own tomorrow, with the head of the plant, George Jordan, but decided to take advantage of the cover of darkness tonight to break in and clone the server.

The blueprints for the main offices were fairly straightforward. He'd make his way there, enter the faciltiies, clone the server, and get back to the hotel, as non-magically as possible. It wouldn't do, after all, to tip off any magicals to magical opposition.

Wouldn't do at all.